|
|
| The Early Years (DVD) - Front Cover | The Early Years (DVD) - Rear Cover |
| Label | None Visible |
| Catalogue No. | 1962 FILMS 23 |
| Release date | 2008 |
| Total time | 3 hours 51 minutes 43 seconds |
| Comments : |
Clips, TV Shows and Live Appearances 1962 - 1963 This DVD features nearly 4 hours of very rare and enjoyable clips from the early days of The Beatles. In fact, this is a FANTASTIC dvd to see some ESSENTIAL performances (if you haven't already got them) as this dvd includes the very first full colour film of the band performing and also probably one of the most exciting absolutely live early performances the band gave which even included two spontaneous extra numbers !
This dvd includes pretty much every UK TV appearance from 1963 that still exists, and mainly it only features the Fab Four playing (or miming) ...
there is some interview material and some home movies, but hardly any newsreel footage. There are some pieces that would have been fantastic, but are sadly out-of-sync. I have marked these below. Note that the timings below for each chapter include a caption board at the start of each piece, which generally plays for about 5 or 6 seconds.
|
(That's the fantastic illustration by M.C. Escher on the actual disc)
Main Menu (Part 1)
Lists the first 24 chapters with a link direct to each.
This is on a loop of 29 seconds and features background Weston-Super-Mare footage with the songs Hippy Hippy Shake and Soldier Of Love as heard in chapter 6.
On the Main menu are Two choices:
Play All
Takes one immediately to the start of the production (see Chapter 1 below).Link to Main Menu (Part 2)
This lists chapters 25-43 or a link back to Main Menu 1
This plays the same 29 seconds of background footage with sound as above.
| No. | Chapter Title | Detail | Time |
| 1 | Live at Floral Hall, Southport | 20th February 1962 Very rare colour 8mm silent footage overdubbed with Sheila/Kansas City This film was discovered in the 70's and auctioned at Sothebys in 1996. This is not just the oldest surviving film of the group of any sort seen so far (although there is rumoured to be a 3 minute 8mm film of the Top Ten club from April/June 1961), but it's also the first colour photography of any sort after they'd taken the Beatles name. |
1:07 |
| 2 | Live at The Cavern | 22nd August 1962 Some Other Guy/Catswalk/Some Other Guy (Alternate Version) At the lunchtime session Granada Television filmed the group playing for their "Know The North" programme. It was scheduled to be shown on 7th November but the film never actually went out at the time. The film clips survived but the sound quality was found to be too poor for them to be used, so further sound-only recordings were made on 5th September. |
6:52 |
| 3 | Film at Sefton Park | 25th March 1963 Colour, Silent cine footage overdubbed with "I Got To Find My Baby" The Beatles spent the day being photographed and filmed by Dezo Hoffmann. Incidentally, among the photos which resulted from this session was the famous 'bombsite' shot which was later used on the cover of the Twist And Shout EP. |
1:48 |
| 4 | BBC Paris Theatre | 4th April 1963 Silent colour footage overdubbed with Bad To Me The Beatles went to the BBC Paris Studio, London, to record a third Side By Side broadcast. They performed 'Too Much Monkey Business', 'Love Me Do', 'Boys', 'I'll Be On My Way' and 'From Me To You'. |
0:46 |
| 5 | Live at ABC Cinema, Great Yarmouth | 30th June 1963 Interview and She Loves You/Please Please Me Sadly out-of-sync. |
3:09 |
| 6 | Film at North Somerset (Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare) |
27th July 1963 Excellent colour silent footage overdubbed with a BBC Medley: Don't Ever Change/Hippy Hippy Shake/Soldier Of Love/Boys/Slow Down |
9:05 |
| 7 | Film at Jersey | 6th-10th August 1963 Excellent colour silent footage overdubbed with a "Anna (Go To Him)" During these dates The Beatles played the Springfield Ballroom, St Saviour, Jersey and had a date in Guernsey. |
2:50 |
| 8 | Scene at 6:30 | 14th August 1963 Twist And Shout On the morning of the 14th the lads drove to Granada TV Centre, Manchester, to record two songs; 'Twist And Shout' and 'She Loves You' for Scene. The first was transmitted that night. Sadly out-of-sync. |
2:43 |
| 9 | Film at Blackpool | 23rd August 1963 Excellent colour silent footage overdubbed with "Thank You Girl" The caption says Blackpool, but they were in Bournemouth on 23rd, they weren't in Blackpool until the 25th. |
1:04 |
| 10 | Mersey Sound | 27th - 30th August 1963 Twist And Shout/Love Me Do/She Loves You This is the entire 30 minute documentary programme On August 28 at the The Little Theatre in Southport, The Beatles were filmed playing 'Twist And Shout' and 'She Loves You' on stage, but with no audience for the BBC TV Manchester documentary made by Don Haworth. After a change of clothes to suggest a different occasion, they played 'Love Me Do'. Audience shots were then dubbed in from the previous night's concert at the Odeon Cinema, Southport. In the end their commercial recordings of these songs were used in the "documentary", which finished up about as close to reality as their movie A Hard Day's Night. The Beatles were also interviewed at the BBC's Manchester studios and also filmed as if backstage making up before a concert, and waiting in the wings with their instruments. The Beatles acted an airport arrival for the "documentary" and also took a Mersey ferry between the Pier Head and Wallasey, signing autographs and meeting fans. On August 30 Ringo was filmed pushing his way through extras outside his childhood home at 10 Admiral Grove in the Dingle for this documentary. Also seen is a group called the Undertakers who were fronted by ... Jackie Lomax. |
29:22 |
| 11 | Big Night Out | 1st September 1963 From Me To You/She Loves You/Twist And Shout/I Saw Her Standing There At ABC TV's Didsbury Studio Centre, Manchester the group recorded an appearance on the variety show "Big Night Out" presented by Mike and Bernie Winters. They mimed their three songs in front of a studio audience of 600 (broadcast September 7). |
9:22 |
| 12 | Melody Maker Awards | 10th September 1963 John and Paul attended a Variety Club of Great Britain luncheon at the Savoy Hotel where they received the award for 'Top Vocal Group of the Year'. This clip is newsreel footage that features a few famous faces receiving their awards. |
1:06 |
| 13 | Ready Steady Go | 4th October 1963 Twist And Shout/I'll Get You/She Loves You This is the whole show and is very entertaining (and corny). Recorded at Associated-Rediffusion's studios at Television House, London, this was their first appearance on Ready, Steady, Go! They mimed the three songs above and were interviewed by Keith Fordyce and Dusty Springfield. Helen Shapiro is seen singing to John, Ringo and George. Paul judges a "Brenda Lee" contest. |
23:58 |
| 14 | Sunday Night at the London Palladium | 13th October 1963 This is just a short interview about the forthcoming appearance. On this day The Beatles topped the bill at ATV's Val Parnell's Sunday Night At The London Palladium, transmitted live from the theatre to an audience of 15 million viewers. They played 'From Me To You', 'I'll Get You', 'She Loves You' and 'Twist And Shout', and joined the other acts, which included Brook Benton and Des O'Connor, as well as compere Bruce Forsyth, to wave goodbye to the audience and viewers from the revolving stage which traditionally ended the show. Unfortunately, I don't believe any copy of the film of this performance has ever been found ! |
1:19 |
| 15 | Playhouse Theatre, London | 16th October 1963 October 16 Playhouse Theatre, London, to record their final session for BBC Light Programme's Easy Beat. They played 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'Love Me Do', 'Please Please Me', 'From Me To You' and 'She Loves You'. The Beatles were interviewed about the Royal Variety Show announcement by Peter Woods for BBC Light Programme's Radio Newsreel. |
1:00 |
| 16 | Thank Your Lucky Stars | 20th October 1963 Money (That's What I Want) The Beatles recorded a headline appearance for ABC TV's Thank Your Lucky Stars at the Alpha TV Studios, Birmingham. They mimed 'All My Loving', 'Money (That's What I Want)' and 'She Loves You'. The first two songs were premiered on the 26th and here we only see one of them. |
2:53 |
| 17 | Departure for Sweden | 23rd October 1963 Silent footage overdubbed with I'll Be On My Way That afternoon The Beatles flew BEA to Stockholm International Airport, Arlanda. |
0:28 |
| 18 | Live in Gothenburg | 27th October 1963 Very brief silent colour footage overdubbed with There's A Place The Beatles played an afternoon show as well as two houses in the evening at the Cirkus, Gothenburg. |
0:18 |
| 19 | Drop In: Stockholm Sweden | 30th October 1963 She Loves You/Twist And Shout/I Saw Her Standing There/Long Tall Sally This is the stand-out piece of this entire dvd. A must-see absolutely live performance. Recorded on this day at Narren-Teatern, Stockholm, an appearance on the Sveriges Television show "Drop In" before a live audience in a small theatre in the Grona Lund amusement park. After the first two scheduled numbers, they were persuaded by presenter Klas Burling to extend their set to four numbers. The lads can then be seen clapping along to the show's theme tune at the end. Even those who would dare suggest The Beatles were not a good live band would have to retract if they saw this amazing impromptu clip. |
12:07 |
| 20 | The Beatles Come To Town | 20th November 1963 She Loves You/Twist And Shout The very first professionally shot colour sound film of the Beatles performing live. Backstage at the ABC Cinema, Manchester were news crews from Pathe News, Granada TV and BBC Radio. Pathe filmed part of the concert to be screened in British cinemas as "The Beatles Come To Town" during Pathe News. The Granada TV crew filmed the group at the same time and interviewed them about their forthcoming tour of the US. This is the complete Pathe News footage. |
6:38 |
| 21 | Return From Sweden | 31st October 1963 Silent newsreel footage overdubbed with Baby It's You The Beatles flew SAS back to London where hundreds of screaming teenage girls had gathered on the roof of the Queen's Building at Heathrow Airport to welcome them back to Britain. The scenes are broadcast on national TV news, heightening the media frenzy about 'Beatlemania'. By coincidence, Ed Sullivan happened to be passing through the airport at that time and witnessed the scene. It impressed him very much and led him to book the group for his show when they were still virtually unknown in the USA. |
2:11 |
| 22 | Royal Variety Rehearsal | 4th November 1963 Silent footage overdubbed with She Loves You |
1:06 |
| 23 | Royal Variety Show | 4th November 1963 From Me To You/She Loves You/Till There Was You/Twist And Shout This is two sources edited smoothly into the complete performance. It includes the Anthology upgrade Director's Cut(1993) edit of She Loves You. The Beatles were seventh to perform in front of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret |
10:42 |
| 24 | This Week TV Show | 5th November 1963 Interview footage in London. An Associated-Rediffusion television crew filmed The Beatles in the back of a car driving around London for a documentary called 'The Beatles and Beatlemania', to be included in their current affairs programme This Week. |
2:01 |
| 25 | In Town TV Show | 7th November 1963 The Beatles flew to Dublin, for their only appearance in Ireland. They were interviewed at the airport by Frank Hall for RTE's (Radio Telefis Eireann) television programme "In Town" shown that evening. |
4:04 |
| 26 | Day By Day | 12th November 1963 They were interviewed at the Guildhall, Portsmouth by Jeremy James for Southern TV's Day By Day programme shown that evening. |
2:26 |
| 27 | Move Over Dad - TV Show | 13th November 1963 Silent footage overdubbed with Misery The Beatles were filmed in Plymouth for Move Over, Dad (a local teenagers' programme). It was transmitted on the 16th. |
1:54 |
| 28 | Film at Odeon Cinema, Lewisham | 8th December 1963 Silent footage overdubbed with I'll Get You The caption says 15th November, but they were not at an Odeon that day, they were at Colston Hall, Bristol. Footage is of the queue outside at Lewisham and clearly shows a ticket for 8th December ! |
0:54 |
| 29 | U.S. TV: Live in Bournemouth | 16th November 1963 Silent footage overdubbed with live versions of Roll Over Beethoven/She Loves You That lasts for 3:20 and is followed by an interview. At the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth three rival American television networks - NBC, CBS and ABC - were permitted to film the hysterical audience and part of the show. Paul and John were interviewed by Josh Darsa for the CBS coverage. Chapter 42 is rival network version. |
4:47 |
| 30 | Scene at 6:30 - Interview | 20th November 1963 Granada TV interview backstage at the ABC, Ardwick Green, Manchester. They were talking about their forthcoming U.S. trip. |
1:34 |
| 31 | The Beatles Come To Town | 20th November 1963 She Loves You/Twist And Shout/This Boy "Wide screen complete version" of the Colour Pathe News as described in Chapter 20 above. |
7:36 |
| 32 | Interview at ABC Carlisle | 21st November 1963 Paul's interview on The World of Sound was broadcast by the BBC Home Service. |
0:45 |
| 33 | Scene at 6:30 | 25th November 1963 Silent footage to start overdubbed with I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy But this is followed by another great must-see piece on this DVD. At the Granada TV Centre, Manchester. The Beatles were interviewed with Ken Dodd by Gay Byrne for Granada's Scene and Late Scene Extra programmes. The interview is superb with lots of ad-libbing and mutual respect, although you can tell The young Beatles are a little in awe of seasoned professional Ken. The interview part lasts 15:48 and is followed by the two perfomances for the show where The Beatles mimed to 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' and 'This Boy'. |
20:42 |
| 34 | Interview in Cambridge | 26th November 1963 At the Regal Cinema, Cambridge, Jean Goodman interviewed The Beatles in their dressing room for the local BBC TV show East At Six Ten. "How long do you think The Beatles will last?", Lennon was asked. "About five years", he replied. "Will the group stay together?" ... "Don't know.". |
0:25 |
| 35 | Morecambe & Wise Show | 2nd December 1963 This Boy/All My Loving/I Want To Hold Your Hand/Moonlight Bay On this day in 1963 The Beatles were at the Elstree Studio Centre, Borehamwood, to record an appearance on Associated-Rediffusion's Morecambe And Wise Show. The group sang 'This Boy', 'All My Loving' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' live before a small studio audience and did comedy sketches with Eric and Ernie. The Beatles, Eric and Ernie, all dressed in striped blazers, closed the show with 'Moonlight Bay'. "The show won't be aired for a couple of months," the TV producer was heard to mutter to a colleague. "Let's hope they're still popular then." |
12:01 |
| 36 | It's The Beatles | 7th December 1963 I Want To Hold Your Hand/Money/Twist And Shout/From Me To You/Third Man Theme Empire Theatre, Liverpool. George and Ringo travelled to Liverpool by train, while John and Paul flew from Heathrow Airport. The Beatles comprised the entire panel for a special edition of BBC TV's Juke Box Jury before an audience of 2,500 members of The Beatles' Northern Area Fan Club. Afterwards, the Fan Club audience saw a special concert, shown later the same day as It's The Beatles! For this they played 'From Me To You', 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'All My Loving', 'Roll Over Beethoven', 'Boys', 'Till There Was You', 'She Loves You', 'This Boy, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', 'Money (That's What I Want)', 'Twist And Shout' and 'From Me To You'. It's a bit sad though that the first concert The Beatles gave in their hometown once they were stars was filmed, but less than 10 minutes of footage survives. And although the pictures and sound are pretty good, there are missing snippets and audio glitches. The performance itself is confident and powerful and notable for including the only live version of Money (That's What I Want) on film - and excellent it is too. |
9:07 |
| 37 | Odeon Cinema, Southend-on-Sea | 9th December 1963 Silent newsreel footage overdubbed with "Hippy Hippy Shake". Mostly just appears to be police outside, then The Beatles getting in a police van. |
0:38 |
| 38 | Live at the Wimbledon Palais | 14th December 1963 Silent cine footage of a performance, overdubbed with "I Wanna Be Your Man". |
0:25 |
| 39 | Thank Your Lucky Stars | 15th December 1963 I Want To Hold Your Hand/All My Loving/Twist And Shout/She Loves You At the Alpha TV Studios, Aston, Birmingham, it was an all Merseyside show. The Beatles mimed 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', 'All My Loving', 'Twist And Shout' and 'She Loves You' Brian Matthew and George Martin show two newly presented gold discs. Sadly this long sequence is all out-of-sync. |
11:52 |
| 40 | Christmas Message | 20th December 1963 Allegedly at the Astoria, Finsbury Park, but they didn't start there until the 24th .. |
0:48 |
| 41 | Royal Variety Performance (Original) | 4th November 1963 From Me To You/She Loves You/Till There Was You/Twist And Shout |
13:22 |
| 42 | CBS Evening News in Bournemouth | 16th November 1963 She Loves You At the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, three rival American television networks - NBC, CBS and ABC - were permitted to film the hysterical audience and part of the show. There is a awful patronizing narration by Arthur Kendrick and Paul and John were interviewed by Josh Darsa for the CBS coverage. |
5:14 |
| 43 | It's The Beatles | 7th December 1963 Silent newsreel footage overdubbed .. plus .. some live footage. Not A Second Time/I Want To Hold Your Hand |
2:53 |